India to be asked to hand over war criminals: Islam
DACCA, DEC. 23. The Bangladesh acting President, Syed Nazrul Islam told a group of foreign journalists here today that his Government would request India that Pak Army officials, responsible for the genocide in Bangladesh, should be handed over to it for trial as war criminals, reports UNI.
Talking to the newsmen at the President’s House, he said that these people should be tried according to international law in a duly constituted court.
Asked about the treatment proposed be meted out to razakars and members of the al Badar party which had killed many Bengali intellectuals, the acting President said: “We are certainly going to try the al Badar leaders.”
He said that the razakars would be rounded up, but hastened to add that there would be no witch-hunting in the process.
“If anyone is found not guilty, he will be spared.” Asked about the fate of nonBengalis, he said: “We have nothing against any one. They can continue to live in Bangladesh as freely as the Bengalis”
According to a late report from Geneva, the International Law Commission today congratulated Mr. Islam on his plan to form proper courts to deal with the people suspected of war crimes.
The Commission said it hoped the courts would be formed by professional judges, and judges of other nationalities would be allowed to act in them.
It also expressed the wish the courts would sentence war criminals according to the norms, set up by the UN, used in the Nuremberg war trials.
Our Staff Reporter from Dacca adds: Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, announced here today that those who had collaborated with the occupation Army would be tried for their crimes by a tribunal. “None of them would be forgiven. But do not take the Law into your own hands”, he said. “The rule of laws must prevail”, he added.
The Bangladesh Government had taken into account all factors which compelled many people to stay on in Bangladesh and work with the Pakistani Army. Genuine cases would be forgiven; but those who worked with the enemy on their own would not be pardoned.
Addressing the Government employees on the sprawling lawns of the Secretariat building here this morning, Mr. Ahmed said that some world powers were trying to create disturbances within the country and destroy the friendly relationship between Bangladesh and India.
Though he did not spell out the names of the countries involved in what he called an “international conspiracy”, he was critical of the USA and China for their support to Pakistan against Bangladesh.
He appealed to President Nixon not to play the game of Pakistan. He hoped that Chinese leaders would soon realize the truth of Bangladesh and “follow a right policy”.
Mr. Ahmed asked the people to be on guard against such conspiracies designed to deny Bangladesh the benefits of independence achieved at the cost of so many lives. “The Government was aware of Mr. Bhutto’s conspiracies”, he added.
The employees cheated lustily when Mr. Ahmed told them that the Indian troops had entered Bangladesh not on their own but on the request of the Bangladesh Government made on December 5.
He also made it quite clear that India had no territorial ambitions in Bangladesh. “If they had any such ambitions, they would not have given recognition to us before entering Bangladesh”, he observed.
He pointed out that the Soviet Union too, had extended unqualified support to Bangladesh. Gorny’s April 2 communication to Gen. Yahya Khan demanding the release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Subsequently, the USSR used the veto thrice in the UN to frustrate the US-China scheme to strangulate the liberation movement in Bangladesh.
Mr. Ahmed also acknowledged the assistance of Bhutan and Poland for the cause of Bangladesh and declared that Bangladesh would never leave friends who had helped them in their hour of crisis whatever the temptation was.
“We would rather starve and die but never betray our friends”, he declared.
He asked the people to be united and to maintain peace in the country essential for the preservation of the country’s independence. He also urged the employees to change their outlook and take up reconstruction work in earnest.
Mr. Ahmed said that the Government was determined to make good the losses inflicted by the Pak Army in the next two months before taking up the bigger programme of economic and social reconstruction.
The immediate task before the Government, he said, was to ensure the smooth return and rehabilitation of the people who had fled to India. The task would have to be taken on a war footing, he told the employees.
Religion, he said, was entirely a private affair of an individual and there would be no place of religion in politics.
He said red tapism and bureaucracy would have to be kept to the minimum and the Government must work for the development of a socialistic pattern of society.
The Prime Minister accompanied by the Finance Minister, Mr. Mansoor Ali, the Foreign Minister, Khondkar Mustaque Ahmed, and the Home Minister, Mr. Kamaruzzaman, met officials at the Secretariat; From tomorrow the Ministers will hold office in the Secretariat.
The city is fast returning to normal with several shops and markets having reopened after a week, reports UNI.
Normal working of all post offices in Bangladesh including night post offices has been restored. Necessary arrangements have been made for the delivery of mails.
The Establishment Secretary of Bangladesh Government, Mr. Noorul Quader told reporters that the law and order situation was “fast returning to normal”.
The police had geared up its machinery to ensure the safety and security of the civilians. Attendance in Government offices was improving daily.
Twenty steamers, motor vessels and motor launches have already started playing on seven routes including those linkings this city with Barisal and Chandpur.
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has been directed by the Government to restore passenger services by Monday.
The authority has already sent a survey launch to investigate the condition of different river routes and locate various coasters and other vessels.
A Bharat-Bangladesh Friendship Society was set up at a meeting of the elite of the society here, yesterday.
The meeting decided to set up branches at all important cities and towns in Bangladesh. A 15 member organizing committee was elected with Sheik Abdul Latif as President and Mr. Mosharaff Hussain as secretary.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 24.12.1971